Sex and relationships are intimate — and sometimes intimidating to talk about. In this weekly podcast from North Carolina Public Radio WUNC, host Anita Rao guid...
Anita has heard one resounding truth from her friends who lost a parent in early adulthood: That death was the biggest thing that has ever happened to them. She meets two people who've built specific communities around their grief on the internet and a writer who experienced losing his dad twice. Meet the guests:- Liz Zorn, photographer and model, talks about the sudden loss of her father and how it's changed her views on the afterlife - Naomi Edmondson, grief educator and space holder, shares how the experience of losing two mother figures in her 20s inspired her to create a community group for Black folks who are grieving - Jeff Dingler, author and journalist, explains how he lost his father twice: first to mental illness when he was 14 and then to death when he was in his 20s Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platformFollow Embodied on TikTok and Instagram Leave a message for EmbodiedPlease note: This episode originally published September 8, 2023.Dig deeper:Tough Times GuideNaomi’s grief resourcesLiz’s YouTube video, “What no one tells you about losing a parent”Jeff’s Insider pieceJeff’s piece about his mom
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31:55
Why Are We Afraid Of Baldness?
Like the majority of American men over 35, Anita's partner is balding...and they're both a little distressed about it. But why? She brings her questions to two men who've interrogated baldness from all angles: race, sexuality, science, media, culture and lived experience. They'll explore where this fear comes from and how many other men feel this way.Meet the guests:- E. Patrick Johnson is dean of the School of Communication and Annenberg University Professor at Northwestern University and the author of “Scatter the Pigeons,” an essay on baldness, masculinity and Blackness- Glen Jankowski is an assistant professor in the School of Psychology at University College Dublin whose research includes the medicalization of baldness and the history of marketing anti-baldness productsRead the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platformFollow Embodied on TikTok and Instagram Leave a message for Embodied
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49:21
Is Food The Key To Cultural Belonging?
Anita's been reckoning with what it means to stay connected to cultural identity as a mixed-race adult. And in pursuit of what things to prioritize, she's turning her focus to food. She talks to mixed-race foodie and writer Raj Tawney, whose hours in the kitchen with his mom and grandma have grounded his search for belonging. Then, she picks up the phone and calls the primary chef in the Rao family: her mom, Sheila.Meet the guests:- Raj Tawney is a writer, foodie and the author of “Colorful Palate: A Flavorful Journey Through a Mixed American Experience”- Sheila Rao is Anita's mom Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platformFollow Embodied on TikTok and Instagram Leave a message for Embodied
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49:20
Unpartnered: Building A Full, Single Life
A growing number of American adults have the same feeling about romantic partnerships: They don’t want one. Anita meets three people who have chosen singlehood: a scholar who examines the double standard of relationship status, a single mother of two by choice and a man shedding toxic masculinity to build a deliberately single life.Meet the guests:- Dr. Kris Marsh, associate professor at the University of Maryland and author of “The Love Jones Cohort: Single and Living Alone in the Black Middle Class,” brings us into her research on single, Black Americans and some of the larger structural forces that shape an individual's choice to be single — and how that work has informed her own embrace of singlehood- Aisha Jenkins, a single mother by choice and the host and creator of the "Start to Finish Motherhood" podcast and blog, shares her journey to becoming a parent and the key relationships that have supported her along the way- Lucas Bradley, author of "A Single Point of Light" Substack newsletter, explains what he has put into place to create a fulfilling life for himself as a deliberately single manRead the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platformFollow Embodied on TikTok and Instagram Leave a message for EmbodiedThis episode originally aired June 2, 2023.
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33:40
Assisted Death And Dying in America
The option to end one's own life through prescribed, lethal medication is legal in 10 states and in Washington D.C. Guest host Anisa Khalifa talks to two researchers about what the assisted death debate illuminates about dying in the United States. Meet the guests:- Mara Buchbinder, a medical anthropologist and the author of "Scripting Death: Stories of Assisted Dying in America," shares her research into how patients, doctors and caregivers interpreted assisted death law in Vermont- Harold Braswell, associate professor in health care ethics at St. Louis University, talks about disability rights and how assisted death fits into the larger end-of-life care landscape in the U.S.Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platformFollow Embodied on TikTok and Instagram Leave a message for Embodied
Sex and relationships are intimate — and sometimes intimidating to talk about. In this weekly podcast from North Carolina Public Radio WUNC, host Anita Rao guides us on an exploration of our brains and our bodies that touches down in taboo territory.Follow the show on Instagram and Twitter @embodiedwunc. You can find Anita on Twitter @anisrao.